In the first week of the New Year, the Middle East rebar market maintained its strong trend, due to the ongoing strength of the raw material market and also the anticipation of continuing price increases in January.
Following the conclusion of bookings by buyers ahead of the New Year holiday, slow activity has been observed in the UAE domestic rebar market this week. With shipments of Turkish origin material due to arrive in the local UAE market in January, no supply shortage is expected in the UAE. SteelOrbis has learned that local rebar prices in the UAE this week still stand at the level of AED 2,600/mt ($708/mt) for deliveries to customer, depending on payment terms, while the latest rebar transactions from Turkey were concluded at $675/mt CFR. Traders, who prefer to evaluate the market for material with a view to concluding transactions in February, are likely to delay their purchases due to the rapid price increases. In the local UAE market, rebar producers are expected to increase their prices in February, while international traders are seen to be restarting their purchases depending on the market situation.
In line with the increases in Turkish rebar offers for the Yemeni market, the local rebar market in Yemen has started the current week with a rapid price increase. SteelOrbis has learned that, in Yemen's domestic steel market, this week local traders' offers of imported medium sized rebars have reached levels of $770-790/mt ex-warehouse, on theoretical weight basis, increasing by $30-40/mt as compared to last week. Meanwhile, Turkish rebar offers for the Yemeni market have reached $695-710/mt CFR on theoretical weight basis, up $15-20/mt week on week. Rebar demand in Yemen is expected to move up in the coming weeks, while traders prefer to stand back and monitor the market for a while due to the price increases.
While demand in the local Saudi Arabian rebar market still continues to remain strong, producers have maintained their domestic rebar prices at previous levels. However, these producers are expected to increase their prices within the current month. This week, Turkish producers' rebar export offers to the Saudi Arabian market have been at $695-705/mt CFR. This offer level is expected to rise next week.
In the Kuwaiti rebar market, prices have not shown any change this week; however, price levels are predicted to rise in the coming period, due to increased raw material costs.